Summary

The favorite was 1995 World Champion, Kong Linghui, known as King Kong. He had been sent to Europe in the early 1990s to learn from the top European players who were dominating men’s singles play. But he was defeated in the round of 16 by Korea’s Kim Taek-Soo. The final still came down to two Chinese players – Liu Guoliang, who had been runner-up at the 1995 Worlds, and Wang Tao. The final was close for four games, which they split, but Liu overwhelmed Wang in the final game, 21-6. Liu would later win the 1999 World Championships. The defending champion, Jan-Ove Waldner, had his worst ever performance at a major event, losing early to Canadian Wenguang “Johnny” Huang. The surprise of the tournament was Petr Korbel (CZE), who eliminated both Jean-Philippe Gatien and Jean-Michel Saive , before finishing fourth.

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